Apparatus for the treatment of textile goods



Sept? 1967 H. c. ANDERSEN 3,343,381

APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE GOODS Original Fiied March 24. 1961' 2 Sheets-Sheet l A x4 0 O O 0 o o o o O o X? 3 7 J o o I J i o L o I 0;; 0

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APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE GOODS Original Filed March 24; 1961 Z Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR flkflj idmdarswg United States Patent.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for the treatment of textile goods in which a pair of spaced chains with suspending bars will pull suspending textile goods through vessels containing treating liquids out of contact with and in a space between the chains. The vessels are also provided with rotating shafts to keep the textile goods submerged in the treating liquids.

This application is a division of my co-pending application Ser. No. 98,041, filed Mar. 24, 1961.

'This invention relates to an apparatus for the treatment of textile goods made from synthetic yarn material comprising a plurality of strands, for the purpose of making them softer, less glossy and more voluminous. The fabrics of which the goods consist may be knitted or woven fabrics or fabrics made by any other of the methods utilized in the textile industry for the manufacturing of fabrics from a yarn material.

Fabrics made from synthetic yarn material such as acetate yarn, superpolyamide (nylon) or the condensation product vinylchloride products and others, while having excellent properties in many respects, suffer from the drawback, as compared with fabrics from natural yarn materials of vegetable or animal origin, that they have a hard touch and a very glossy appearance. Besides, they have poor heat insulating properties and will only absorb or adsorb very small quantities of moisture.

Attempts have been made at remedying these drawbacks by subjecting the yarn material to various chemical or mechanical processes during the production thereof. Thus, it has been proposed to add various gas developing substances to the spinning solution for the purpose of giving the thread an irregular surface and possibly a somewhat porous structure, and likewise it has been proposed to subject the thread to ultrasonic vibrations during the spinning operation in order to make them somewhat curly. Attempts have also been made at obtaining similar effects by treating the yarns, subsequent to their production, by chemicals attacking the yarn material. However, the results that have been achieved by these known 5 processes have not been remarkable, as far as methods suitable for commercial application are concerned. It is also well known that the structure of the yarns may be changed by twisting in combination with heat treatment (the so-called Helanca-process) whereby an increased voluminosity of fabrics made from these yarns may be obtained, but this process, as will be understood, is one that has to be performed on the yarn itself, and it is a very expensive and complicated process.

For the treatment of textile goods made from synthetic yarn material comprising a plurality of strands, a process has also been proposed in which the textile goods are first subjected to treatment in a shrinking bath, especially an aqueous phenol solution, and then in one or more neutralizing or rinsing baths while the goods may if desired atthe same time be subjected to ultrasonic vibration.

The word strand, as used in this specification, is intended primarily to refer to the individual filaments or fibers from which the yarn is made or spun, but it may also, particularly in the case of monofilaments, refer to individual threads worked into the textile pattern in sideby-side relation.

As a result of this known process, the strands are spread apart between the intersecting or linking points of the textile pattern whereby a great number of small cavities are formed between the individual strands which cavities will give the thread as a whole somewhat more fluffy contours whereby the fabric becomes more voluminous and less glossy, and will also contribute towards increasing the heat insulating and moisture adsorbing or absorbing properties.

However, very great difliculties have been encountered in adapting this method to commercial practice on an economical sound basis. The principal source of these difficulties is the fact that, in order to obtain useful results, it has been found necessary to operate at very short and well defined times of treatment in the shrinking bath. The fact is that the desired effect is obtained only if the individual filaments or the yarn are non-uniformly treated, which can only be obtained by a short but strong attack by the shrinking agent. If the time of treatment is increased, and the concentration of the shrinking agent is made correspondingly lower, it is found that just a uniform shrinking but no spreading of the filaments will take place.

It has been attempted to obtain the desired short and well defined time of treatment by conveying the goods through the bath between two synchronously travelling belt conveyors. While it is possible in this manner to obtain a good control of the time of treatment, it has been found that the goods will result too non-uniform, and stained in part, which is ascribable to the fact that it is not possible, in the manner described, to obtain a uniform penetration of the liquid of the bath into all surface pot-- tions of a textile article. The difliculties will be particularly great at such places where the article forms folds or plies. There will also be a tendency towards non-, uniform shrinking of different areas of a textile article so that the article may be unfavorably warped.

It is the object of the invention to remedy these drawbacks and ,With'this in view, according to the invention,

the textile-goods are .conveyed through the baths in a continuous path in a freely suspended state. By keeping the goods freely suspended while pulling them through the shrinking bath, it has been found possible to obtain a much more uniform penetration of the shrinking liquid into all portions of the article, than when the article is held, even relatively loosely, between two belt conveyors. Moreover, the freely suspended article will not form sharp folds or plies preventing the free penetration of shrinking liquid into the zones concerned. Finally, the article is free to shrink throughoutthe, whole of its area, thus eliminating the risk of non-uniformity that may arise if in some places the article is incapable of moving relative to the conveying means or can only move to an insufficient extent.

Thus, by utilizing the process of the present invention, the advantage is obtained that not only in its totality is the article subjected to the influence of the shrinking liquid for a well-defined time but this will also apply to any subarea of the article.

Besides the time of treatment, the concentration of the shrinking bath, too, must be kept constant if uniform' results of the treatment are to be obtained. This meets with some difiiculty when carrying out the process on an industrial scale because the articles when subjected to the shrinking agent will consume a quantity of this agent so that the concentration of the shrinking bath is decreased every time an article passes through the bath.

It is an object of the invention to provide simple means for compensating for the consumption of the shrinking agent, so that the relatively complicated checking and adjustment of the concentration of the shrinking agent is reduced as much as possible. According to the invention, this is obtained by adding shrinking liquid of a higher concentration to the shrinking bath in quantities such as to keep a constant liquid level in the shrinking bath.

The background of this method is that the article, when leaving the shrinking bath, will remove a quantity of liquid proportional to the weight of the article and consequently also proportional to the quantity of shrinking agent consumed. When supplying liquid up to the same liquid level, the quantity of liquid thus supplied will be equal to the quantity of liquid removed by the article, and consequently also proportional to the quantity of active shrinking agent, such as phenol, that has been consumed. By suit-ably selecting the concentration of the liquid used for the replenishment, it is therefore possible to obtain conditions such that the quantity of active shrinking agent, such as phenol, contained in the liquid supplied for the replenishment is equal to the quantity removed together with the article treated. As a result, the concentration of the shrinking bath will remain practically constant over long periods of operation and at any rate will only change very slowly-an absolutely exact balance between shrinking agent consumed and supplied is of course not obtainableso that, in order to keep the concentration within the limits required, it will sufiice to perform a test from time to time and then to adjust the concentration of the shrinking bath accordingly by supplying concentrated shrinking agent in the quantity required. The test may be carried out by determining the shrinkage of the articles treated, but it may also be performed by directly measuring the concentration. In the latter case it is possible, if desired, to use instruments that automatically control the dosage of concentrated shrinking agent.

The principal feature of the apparatus, which comprises a vessel for a shrinking liquid and one or more vessels for neutralizing or rinsing liquids, is that synchronously travelling conveyor chains are arranged along the sides of the vessels along paths diving into and rising out of each of the vessels, transverse suspending bars having suspending means for the textile articles to be treated extending between the said conveyor chains. By this arrangement the advantage is obtained that the articles are only suspended in one or more points and that the conveying means do not form any obstacles to the freedom of movement of the articles while being conveyed through the liquids in the vessels, particularly the shrinking liquid in the first vessel.

According to the invention, guiding means may be mounted in the vessels for keeping the textile articles submerged under the liquid level during the transportation through the treating liquids, thereby to avoid the risk of formation of stains resulting from deficient submersion of portions of the articles, especially in the shrinking liquid.

According to a further feature of the invention, a revolving conveying member having a circumferential speed exceeding the speed of travel of the conveyor chains may be provided between the conveyor chains in front of the position where the latter dive into the shrinking liquid. Owing to this arrangement the article to be treated will be advanced into the shrinking bath at a somewhat higher speed than that at which it is pulled forward by the suspending means, thereby avoiding the danger of the article being subjected to tensile stresses resulting from the shrinking of the portion of the article already present in the shrinking bath.

The invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic longitudinal section through one form of an apparatus according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of a conveyor mechanism forming part of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section along the line III-III in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a section along the line IVIV in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the liquid circulation system of the apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, and

FIG. 6 diagrammatically shows one constructional form of a detail of the circulation system illustrated in FIG. 5.

In the drawing 1, 2 and 3 are three vessels for liquids of treatment. The liquid in the vessel 1 is a shrinking agent, e. g., a phenol solution which has a strongly attacking effect on yarns of superpolyamide or similar synthetic yarn materials. The vessel 2 may contain a neutralizing liquid such as a solution of caustic soda, and the vessel 3 may contain a rinsing liquid such as water with a content of a penetration agent, e.g., triethanolamine. However, it is also possible to use water as a rinsing agent in both of the vessels 2 and 3, seeing that neutralization before rinsing is not absolutely necessary, and also the addition of a penetration agent to the rinsing water is not invariably required. Some detailed examples of the compositions of the various baths and the corresponding times of treatment will be given below.

Two endless conveyor chains 4 and 5 extend along 0pposite sides of the vessels in a path diving into and rising from each of the vessels and having its return run below the bottoms of the vessels. The chains may, e.g., be carried on sprockets at the ends of shafts 6 extending from one side of the vessels to the other. By this means or by any other suitable means the two chains are driven synchroneously and, as will be seen, the space between the chains is free. At suitable intervals transverse bars 7 are mounted between the chains, the transverse bars being provided with hooks 8 for the attachment of the textile articles 9 to be treated, such as stockings. 10 is a table on which the articles may be laid in readiness for attachment to the hooks of the transverse bars. At the opposite end of the apparatus a plurality of rollers 12 are mounted relatively close to one another below a horizontal part 11 of the conveyor mechanism. The function of these rollers 12 is to serve as a support for the articles upon completion of the treatment so as to facilitate the operation of removing the articles from the hooks 8 of the transverse bars 7.

- 13 is a roller which is driven synchronously with the chains 4 and 5, e.g., by toothed engagement with the latter, and is constructed with a plurality of wings 14 extending radially to an outward diameter of a size such that the circumferential speed of the outer edges of these wings will be slightly greater than the speed of movement of the conveyor chains.

The operation of the apparatus described is as follows:

It is assumed that the conveyor chains have been stopped in a position such that one of the transverse bars 7 is present immediately adjacent the table 10. A batch of articles that have beforehand been placed in readiness on the table 10 are now attached to the hooks 8 of the transverse bar considered. The conveyor chains are set in motion to convey the articles into the vessel and then out of the latter and into the vessel 2, whereafter, with the aid of suitable means, not illustrated, the conveyor chains are automatically stopped in a position such that the transverse bar 7 to which the articles were attached is now present in the position indicated in the vessel 2, while the next following transverse bar 7 has at the same time arrived in a position immediately adjacent the table 10. The articles of the next batch are now attached to the hooks of the next transverse bar and the conveyor chains are started up again, whereby the next batch of articles are moved to the vessel 2, and the first batch of articles to the vessel 3. In the next operation the first batch of articles arrives at the horizontal part 11 and are removed when the conveyor chains have been stopped.

It will be seen that the articles are pulled through the baths in a completely freely suspended state which, for the reason previously mentioned, is particularly important in the shrinking liquid in the vessel 1. Therefore, the conveyor chains extend into that vessel along a relatively elongated, inclined path so that there will be sufficient space available for the articles to keep longitudinally extended during their transportation. The rotating shafts 6 serve to insure complete submersion of the articles during transportation.

Immediately before diving into the vessel 1, the articles move across the wings 14 of the roller 13, and since these move at a higher speed than the conveyor chains, the articles will be fed into the vessel at a speed higher than that at which they are pulled forwards at their front ends.

One form of' the circulation system of the liquids in the vessels 1, 2 and 3 is illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6. In these figures it is likewise illustrated, that ultra-sonic vibrators 15, 16 and 17 may advantageously be provided in the vessels in order to obtain a more efficient and more uniform influence of the liquids on the textile material.

A perforated pipe '18 extends transversely through the vessel 1 and has connected to one end thereof a supply pipe 20 from a working feed tank 21 containing shrinking liquid of higher concentration than that in the vessel 1, the connection being made through an air trap 19 accord ing to the chicken trough principle. A suction conduit 22 leading to a circulation pump 23 is connected to the other end of the perforated pipe 18, the pressure conduit 24 of said circulation pump opening into a pipe 25 extending transversely of the vessel 1 at the bottom thereof below a partition 26. A conduit 28 from an automatic dosage apparatus 29, to which a strongly concentrated shrinking agent solution is supplied from an adjustment feed tank 30 through a conduit 31, is also connected to the suction pipe 22 through an air trap 27 of similar construction as the air trap 19. The automatic dosage apparatus 29 may be controlled through an electrical conductor 32 from a refractometer or another suitable instrument for determining the concentration of the solution in the vessel 1.

33 is a conduit for supplying water, and 34 a conduit for supplying concentrated shrinking agent to the working feed tank 21 for the purpose of preparing the solution therein. The working feed tank 21 is provided with a cir- :ulation pump 35 with suction pipe 36 and pressure pipe 37 and with a preheater 38 which automatically controls the temperature of the liquid circulating through the pump 34 so as to keep the liquid in the working feed tank 2 1 at the same temperature as that in the vessel 1, where a similar control is performed by means of a pre-heater 39.

In the embodiment of the circulation system illustrated it has been assumed that both of the vessels 2 and 3 contain rinsing water. This is supplied to the vessel 3 through a conduit 40 and flows from the latter through a conduit 41 to the vessel 2 from which it is drained ofl" through a drain conduit 42.

As previously explained, the concentration of the solution in the working feed tank 21 may be selected so much higher than the concentration of the solution in the vessel 1 that the concentration of the latter is kept constant by supplying sufiicient liquid from the working feed tank to keep the water level in the vessel 1 constant. This is insured by means of the air trap 19. Since the suction pipe of the circulation pump 23 is connected to the perforated pipe 18, a vacuum will be created in the interior of the latter so that the liquid supplied from the working feed tank does not flow directly into the bath in the vessel 1 but remains in the perforated pipe 18 and is sucked into the circulation pump together with the liquid from the bath itself that is sucked through the perforations of the pipe 18. The two liquids are mixed in the circulation pump, and an additional mixing takes place when the liquid flows out under the partition 26 through the perforations of the pipe 25. The result of this is that the stronger solution arriving from the feed tank 21 does not get into contact with the articles until it has been homogeneously mixed into the circulating liquid. The same applies to the strongly concentrated solution that may be suppliedfrom the automatic dosage apparatus 29 from time to time inorder to compensate for the drifting of the concentration of the bath in the vessel 1 that will inevitably occur in the long run.

Some examples will now be given of the compositions of the baths and the times of treatment:

Example 1 Treatment of ladies (nylon, perlon, etc.).

The leg of the stocking is made from a yarn of 30 denier with ten filaments and having a twist of 320 per meter. The welt and the foot reinforcement consist of a yarn of 40 denier with 13 filaments and having a twist of 320 per meter. The weight of a stocking is about 10 grams. As an example, six stockings at a time may be conveyed through the three successive baths in the manner described above.

The first bath is the active bath of treatment in which the stockings are at the same time subjected to an intermittent supersonic field, while the second bath serves to neutralize the chemical products from the first bath, and the third bath serves for washing and rinsing purposes. Preferably, a supersonic field should also be produced in the second a field is less essential, though still advantageous.

The first bath contains an aqueous solution of 50-60 grams of a crystallized phenol per liter to which 2-5 grams per liter of a sulphonated fatty alcohol may be added if desired to serve as a penetration agent. The temperature of this bath is kept at about 40 C.

The second bath contains a solution caustic soda per liter. This bath, too, may have an addition of a sulphonated fatty alcohol in a proportion of about 1 gram per liter. The bath is kept at a temperature of about 54-40 C.

The third bath contains an aqueous solution of /21 gram per liter of a penetration agent such as triethanolamine. This bath is kept at a temperature of about 45- 40 C.

The time of treatment in the first bath amounts to about 9 seconds and in the two other baths somewhat longer, e.g., 45 seconds.

stockings of superpolyamide of about 2-5 grams Example 2 A charmeuse fabric (tricot cloth) of superpolyamide with a strength of 40 denier and a weight of 70 grams per m2 is treated. The first bath contains 40 grams phenol per liter and is kept at a temperature of 45 C. The second bath contains 3 grams caustic soda per liter and is kept at a temperature of 65 C. The third bath contains 1 gram triethanolamine or a similar penetration agent and is kept at a temperature of 65 C. The time of treatment in the first bath is about 15 seconds, in the second bath about 30 seconds, and in the third bath about 30 seconds.

Referring to the roller 13, FIGS. 1 and 3 show wings 14 secured thereon and as a part of the roller. However, the wings 14 are not always necessary and the roller 13 may have a smooth surface with a surface speed substantially that of the conveyor chairs.

In connection with the bath replenishing system, the means used are disclosed but as to a modified structure a tank equivalent to tank 21, in FIG. 5, may contain bath material of the phenol concentration finally desired with the material being metered into the processing tank 1. There may be a separate injection mechanism for adding a relatively small quantity at a higher concentration, as for example 50% phenol, following each passage of a group of the stockings through the bath to thus replenish bath. In the third bath the presence of such 7 the phenol which may be absorbed. The amount of material injected may be determined empirically, the concentration of the bath being frequently tested to insure that the required concentration is maintained.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for the treatment of textile goods made from synthetic yarn material comprising a plurality of strands, comprising a vessel for a shrinking liquid, at least one vessel for a neutralizing liquid, a pair of synchronously travelling and spaced conveyor chains with the space between the chains being open, each one of the chains extending along opposite sides of the vessels in paths diving into and rising from the vessels, and suspend ing bars extending between the said pair of chains and being constructed with suspending means for the textile goods to be treated as they travel through the vessels out of contact with and in the space between the chains.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1 and further comprising guiding means in the form of rotating shafts in said vessels for keeping the textile goods submerged below the liquid level during transportation through the treatment liquids.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 103,491 /1870 Padon 6839 168,931 /1875 Shaw 6845 189,841 4/ 1877 Carpenter 6845 Olney 6845 Murphy 6839 Weldon 68207 X Maertens 68158 X Schreiner 68207 X Brassard 689 Bratkowski 68207 Becker 6839 X Allsop et al 68207 Touchstone et a1.

Eustis 68--207 Zerk 68148 X Jefferson 68184 X Mendelson 6839 X Jones et a1 68207 X Dooley 683 X Mann et al 68207 X Loosli 683 X FOREIGN PATENTS IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR THE TREATMENT OF TEXTILE GOODS MADE FROM SYNTHETIC YARN MATERIAL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STRANDS, COMPRISING A VESSEL FOR A SHRINKING LIQUID, AT LEAST ONE VESSEL FOR A NEUTRALIZING LIQUID, A PAIR OF SYNCHRONOUSLY TRAVELING AND SPACED CONVEYOR CHAINS WITH THE SPACE BETWEEN THE CHAINS BEING OPEN, EACH ONE OF THE CHAINS EXTENDING ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE VESSELS IN PATHS DIVING INTO AND RISING FROM THE VESSELS, AND SUSPENDING BARS EXTENDING BETWEEN THE SAID PAIR OF CHAINS AND BEING CONSTRUCTED WITH SUSPENDING MEANS FOR THE TEXTILE GOODS TO BE TREATED AS THEY TRAVEL THROUGH THE VESSELS OUT OF CONTACT WITH AND IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE CHAINS. 